


They Met in a Comic Book Shop

by Know_It_All_Hermione



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Book Shop AU, Crossover, M/M, One Shot, Post-Hogwarts, Rare Pairing, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25665097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Know_It_All_Hermione/pseuds/Know_It_All_Hermione
Summary: While working at his comic book shop Stuart Bloom gets a customer who develops an romantic interest in him. Weeks after and after more visits to the shop the customer asks Stuart out on a date and Stuart accepts.
Relationships: Stuart Bloom/Harry Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: Cast the Dice 2020, Harry Potter Slash Crossovers





	They Met in a Comic Book Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own nor will I ever own Harry Potter and the Big Bang Theory
> 
> Author's Notes: This fanfic is unbeta'd so all mistakes and typos you find are all mine. This fanfic was written for the Cast the Dice 2020 event.  
> The trope prompt that I chose for this fanfic was : Book shop AU 
> 
> I hope everyone likes this fanfic , please enjoy!

Stuart Bloom, aged thirty-six years old, wasn’t a very lucky man, he was unappreciated by the people in his life who he considered to be his friends, was socially awkward, was often excluded from social events, wasn’t good at romance and was not a very confident person. 

Stuart never really thought of himself as attractive either …at best he considered himself quite average in the looks department. He was lean , with average height and had short dark brown hair and brown eyes. 

The only good thing he thought that he really had going for him at the moment was that he was the owner of a comic book shop, though he didn’t get as many customers as he would like. 

It was there at his shop that he would meet someone who would change his outlook on life and make him genuinely happy. 

It was a quiet day in the afternoon and the shop hadn’t received many customers that day, unfortunately, when the shop door opened and a black-haired man wearing glasses entered. 

Stuart looked to his new potential customer and when his brown eyes caught sight of the other male, he couldn’t help but stare. 

The customer who was exploring the store and looking around with apparent interest was attractive. From where Stuart stood, he saw that the man had short messy black hair, a slender but slightly muscled build and was of average height. The man was wearing a pair of black denim jeans, a dark blue long-sleeved button up shirt and sneakers. The black-haired man looked like he probably was in his late 20’s. 

Stuart noticed that other customers in the store had also noticed the new attractive customer and were staring. 

Stuart walked up to the customer and just when he was about to speak to offer the man some assistance the man turned around and Stuart was now face to face with the other male. 

The comic book store owner now saw the other man had bright green eyes behind those pair of glasses that he was wearing, the man also had a scar in the shape of a bolt of lightning. Stuart was silent for just a moment and as he stared for that moment, he couldn’t help but think those emerald eyes of his new customer very pretty. 

“Hello do you work here?” said the customer in a British accent. 

The other man smiled lightly at Stuart. 

At first Stuart didn’t speak, feeling himself lost in the other man’s beautiful emerald eyes but then he soon spoke.

“Yes, yes I work here. This is my comic book shop; how can I help you?” said Stuart. 

“If it’s not too much trouble can you give me some recommendations, I’m sort of new to this stuff as I was sort of wasn’t allowed any of this stuff when I was a kid and I think I’m interested in trying some out.” 

“Of course, what kind of genres are you interested in?” asked Stuart. 

“Um…I don’t know, could you just tell me about some ones that might be interesting?”

Stuart gave a nod, “Not very helpful but sure” he said. 

The customer gave a sheepish, apologetic expression at Stuart, “Sorry” he said. 

“It’s fine…” Stuart said, dismissing the apology. 

The customer then listened to Stuart intently as the comic book shop owner started to tell of different comic book series. Stuart told the other man about the comic series of Batman, Deadpool and Thor among them. His voice was nervous sounding at first but then as he told more of the series he liked to the customer his voice held a more passionate sounding tone. 

The customer ended up telling Stuart that he’d like to try out the first couple of volumes of each series that Stuart told him about and so Stuart led the other male towards the counter to pay for the purchases. 

“Thank you for your help” said the customer as he gave Stuart payment for the comics. 

“You’re very welcome, I hope you like them” said Stuart. “Keep the receipt and..and if you don’t like them you can exchange them with something else” His words as he said this came out a bit awkward and nervous sounding. 

“Thanks” said the customer. The customer smiled at Stuart and soon left with the comics he had bought and Stuart found himself hoping that he would see this customer again. 

The following week on Friday Stuart got his wish and the same customer entered the comic book shop. There were more customers in the shop this time, including some of Stuart’s friends. 

When Stuart saw the customer from last time enter the shop he couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked , all that week he had thought of the dark haired customer and though they had only had that just one meeting Stuart was sure he had developed some romantic feelings for the other man. Stuart wasn’t sure what to do with these new feelings however, as this other man looked so cool and attractive where Stuart was quite the opposite. 

“Hey it’s you again!” Stuart heard a male voice say. 

Stuart recognized it to be of the customer he had served and he tried to calm his nerves and social anxiety before directing his attention to the customer. 

“Hey…er yeah, it’s me because well…I do …you know…um…work here. How…So um…how do you like the comics I recommended to you?” Stuart said, his words sounding awkward and nervous. 

“I really like them, and would like to get some more of them if you have them” said the customer.

“Great! I’ll...I’ll see if we have them in stock, just um…follow me” said Stuart. 

The customer gave a nod and followed Stuart as he went to get more volumes of the comics that the customer was interested in. 

Afterwards the customer thanked Stuart and explored the rest of the shop for a short while before buying his purchases and leaving. 

Stuart continued to receive the same man as a customer over the next few weeks. Every visit the customer would come in, talk to Stuart and Stuart would talk to him awkwardly about comic book stuff before the customer after looking around would buy some comics. 

Stuart had found that he had definitely developed some romantic feelings for the other man who he still hadn’t found out the name of yet, though because of his name tag the customer knew Stuart’s name. 

One day when the customer was in Stuart’s store Stuart had been awkwardly watching him and had been trying to gather the courage to ask the customer for his name and ask him out on a date.

“So, uh…. was it just these you want to buy today?” asked Stuart when the time came for the customer to buy the comics he had picked out. 

The customer gave a nod, “Yes...for now yes but um…. I was actually also wanting to ask you something if that’s okay” 

Stuart stared at the customer and he gave a slight nod, “Yes, of …. of course, what do you want …to ….to know” 

The customer gave Stuart a shy sort of smile and then asked in a somewhat hopeful sort of tone of voice, “Are you in a relationship with anyone at the moment?”

Stuart felt surprise fill him and felt sort of hopeful himself, “No…uh…I’m not dating anyone...” 

“Great! Great Stuart, then sometime when you have some free time would you like to go on a date with me?”

Stuart nodded and for a moment he was at a loss for words but then soon said, “Yes …Yes I would love to go on a date with you! …I’m er available tonight…. if…if you are as well”

The customer nodded and smiled with relief at Stuart. “My name is Harry” said the customer. “Tonight sounds good to me, I’m not doing anything tonight” 

“Great! Come back here sometime after I close here and we can er do something…though I don’t really have much money…”

“That’s okay, I can pay for the both of us” said Harry with a smile. 

Stuart managed an awkward smile, “Great! I guess I will see you then” 

“Yeah, can’t wait! See you later, bye!” said Harry before leaving the shop with his purchases. 

After the customer who Stuart now knew as Harry left Stuart just stared after him slightly shocked and at the same time happy at what had just occurred. 

~ ~ ~ ~

At around five in the late afternoon Harry Potter walked from his car towards the comic shop that he had asked out a guy at, a spring in his step as he made his way there. 

Recently he had on impulse entered a comic book shop and had taken a look at what it sold. He had never been allowed to read comic books when he was a kid as it was something that many people considered as fun and Harry’s relatives, the Dursleys, had always been against him having any kind of fun. Now that Harry was an adult and free from the family who had been nothing but neglectful and abusive towards him during his childhood, he now was able to enjoy whatever he wanted, even if it was just some muggle entertainment. 

Harry wasn’t a normal man, he was what was called a wizard and from the age of eleven to the age of eighteen had attended a wizarding school called Hogwarts where he had learnt magic. Throughout his childhood he had been forced to take part in a war against the dark wizard Voldemort who had murdered his parents, he had defeated Voldemort and won the war. 

After the war Harry had tried to become an Auror so he went through with the training but on his second year of working on the job he decided that fighting against dark wizards when he had done so throughout his childhood wasn’t what he wanted for himself afterall. Harry wanted to be normal or at least as normal a life he could have. 

However, the wizarding world didn’t want their hero to be normal and so after much harassment from the magical community, more than he had already gotten, he decided to move. 

He had decided on America and adjusted to his new life and got himself a muggle job. Harry was still in contact with his best friend Hermione Granger, they would often talk over the phone, and sometimes she would visit him at his apartment. 

Harry , now at almost thirty years old , quite liked his new life and recently he had even met someone who he had become romantically interested in, he had made it a regular thing for himself lately to visit the comic book shop just to see the other man.

The person who he was interested in was a man by the name of Stuart.

Stuart was an awkward man with really nice brown eyes, short dark brown hair and he seemed like a genuinely nice and normal guy. The man apparently really liked comics and other geeky muggle stuff and Harry found the way the man would talk passionately about his interests to him quite endearing. 

The guy had said yes to his request for a date and so he had brushed his hair, had a shower, dressed in something date appropriate and left his apartment. 

When Harry arrived to the comic book shop where they had agreed to meet, he saw the man locking up his shop and Harry smiled. 

“Hi Stuart! Are you ready for our date?” Harry asked in a cheerful and excited tone when he reached the other man. 

Stuart turned and almost dropped his shop keys when he saw Harry. 

“You…You look wonderful…er I mean yes…Um...yes I am ready” said Stuart. 

Stuart was wearing a pair of brown enclosed shoes , jeans and a button up t shirt. 

“Great! Let’s go then and um…thank you, I think you look good too!” said Harry cheerfully. 

The comic book shop owner nodded and soon they started walking together to Harry's car that had been parked close to Stuart's shop.

The two men ended up going to a Chinese restaurant together , they sat down and ordered their meals. There was a short awkward silence between the two men before Harry engaged his date into awkward conversation. 

They talked about comics, work, and other trivial things. When the meals arrived to the table, they were silent as they ate and though the awkward silence had returned, they both found themselves enjoying the date together. 

After eating they talked again, finding out that they had a few things in common, other than liking comics. They had both lost people before and both had been unlucky in romance. 

“I... I... find that hard to believe…You’re so…so beautiful Harry. Your eyes are really pretty and you’re nice, a... a really decent guy” said Stuart awkwardly. 

Harry blushed at the compliments and he couldn’t help but smile humourlessly, “Thanks Stuart but that’s just the thing, the people I’ve dated or who have shown romantic interest in me haven’t really wanted me for me” 

Stuart stared at Harry, a sympathetic gaze in his eyes. “I want you for you” he said. “We don’t have to have sex straight away…. that is if you do want to continue this ….and I don’t care about any amount of money you might have.” 

Harry smiled, his smile genuine this time. “Thanks Stuart, I want you for you too and I think if you feel the same way as I do, I want to continue dating you” 

Stuart looked confused now, though at the same time relieved. “Yeah…. Yes, I feel the same” 

Relief washed through Harry, “Good because you seem genuinely nice Stuart, I like you” 

Stuart smiled a genuine smile, though it came across as strained but still he smiled. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Later after paying for the meals Harry drove Stuart back to the comic book shop where the man lived at as well as worked. 

“So, um….I had a great time with you tonight Harry” Stuart said, his voice sounding awkward but happy. 

“I...I did too Stuart” Harry said with a smile. 

“Thanks for asking me out” the comic book shop owner said. “Um…Is it alright if I kiss you goodnight?” 

Harry blushed and after a moment he gave a nod. 

Stuart leant across to Harry and awkwardly captured Harry’s lips in a kiss, one hand gently cupping one of Harry’s blushing cheeks. 

Harry closed his eyes and kissed Stuart back. The kiss was awkward, it was chaste and it wasn’t long but both men quite enjoyed it.

Stuart pulled away and said “Good night Harry” before then leaving the car. 

The following week Stuart and Harry went on another date, and continued to date, gradually falling in love with each other. Not long into the relationship Stuart introduced Harry to his friends and Harry introduced Stuart to Hermione. Both of them were happy that they had found each other in that comic book shop of Stuart’s and despite whatever struggles would come in the future knew they would be okay because they now had each other.


End file.
